City Address, City Resident

Locations outside the city, including business located in parts of Montgomery and Prince George's counties, will no longer have District of Columbia mailing addresses under a zip code change to take place next spring, according to a recent decision by the Postal Service.

"We feel that this step will enhance our ability to attract and retain business firms in the District," said Mayor Marion Barry Jr. after a meeting with D.C. Postmaster William Gordon.

Barry requested the change last year after some suburban groups began a campaign to attract businesses, citing the D.C. address as an advantage of selecting those locations. "I am pleased at the cooperation we have received from the U.S. Postal Service in addressing this issue," Barry said.

An announcement of the change from the Postal Service noted that a major reason for the change was the increase in volume of mail to the Maryland suburbs and that in the future the volume is expected to exceed the capacity of the D.C. post office.

Under the planned zip code change, most Montgomery County locations which currently are assigned zip codes beginning with 200 or 207 will be changed to 208 or 209. Most Prince George's County zip locations which currently use 200 or 208 will be changed to 207. The District will retain all zip codes beginning with 200.

Suburban Maryland mail would be rerouted through interim facilities, one in Bethesda and one in the southern Maryland suburbs. Those eventually would be replaced with a new permanent facility for the northern Maryland suburbs and a replacement facility for the Prince George's Sectional Center. No loss of postal jobs is anticipated as a result of the change.